Help Tara Take Down Cancer
Donation protected
This is the story of a bright, happy, beautiful, free spirited girl named Tara. She is 22 years old and was just diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
My name is Dawn and Tara has been in our lives for almost 7 years. She is our son Jake's high school sweetheart. (nevermind that I had to clue the kid in that this girl liked him) She has become a part of our family.
Tara is in her final semester of college getting ready to begin her student teaching in January to be able to graduate on schedule in May 2018 ( which she is determined to do). She will graduate with a degree in Biology and Education and plans to teach high school biology........did I mention she was smart? ;)
Tara Fun Fact
She is the eldest of six children. The youngest is five.
In November they were going to open houses looking for Jake's first house......their future home together. He wanted to have his own place before he asked her to marry him. Today instead of applying for a home mortgage loan, my son is talking about whether he should take out a loan to help pay for medical expenses and for harvesting eggs and freezing embryos because these are the choices they are having to make at 21 and 22. Today they are having to make decisions about cancer treatments and what if they can't have children. These are huge life decisions for any couple let alone such a young couple.
Finding Cancer
Tara had always had painful cramps during menstral cycles and she was always very regular, but in June she was having pain causing her to double over and she was bleeding when it shouldn't have been.
After a visit to her doctor with her concerns, they did an ultra sound and found a tumor on her left ovary. They drew blood and found the numbers they look at for cancer to be low and were not concerned yet. They were going to watch the tumor. By October the tumor had doubled in size and there was a new one on her right ovary. Surgery was scheduled.
On December 12th two tumors were removed. (She named them.....wanted to keep them in jars, but had to settle for pictures......science major! ) She named them Herbert and Helga. Her doctor told her he rarely sees these type of tumors in someone her age. They did appear to be cancer, but we would have to wait and see. Very long 8 days. Cancer. Merry Christmas!
We were all shocked and sad. She said she expected it. She just had a feeling. She knew. She also wasn't having anyone be sad. She was ready from the beginning to take it on. We are very thankful that it is only stage one. This could be so much worse and she has an awesome attitude about it all and they say that a positive attitude is important!
Jake has gone to all of her appointments, stayed with her family during the surgery and sat with her into the night while she was in the hospital. He helped take care of her when she came home. Together they have decided that they would like to try and freeze embryos for when they are ready to start a family.
This is where we need some help.
Everything has to move fast. (and it feels too slow all at the same time) The doctor would have removed her ovaries on December 12th had Tara been older or had she already had a child. Because of her age he wanted to wait to give her a chance to save some eggs/embryos before they took her ovaries. The cancer is still there and the ovaries must come out. Possible chemo will start after once they examine the ovaries. All of this needs to happen asap and they want money up front. Money these kids don't have, and unfortunately neither do their parents.
Tara has applied for scholarships from Live Strong and Baby Steps for help with the medications she needs to start ASAP in preparation for the removal of her eggs. ($5000) We hope to hear from them soon.
Oh but wait.....there's more.
They want $8000 the day of her appointment to remove the eggs and fertilize them. In addition, Tara will have out of pocket expenses from her surgeries and treatments that the insurance won't cover and we will use the money toward those costs as well.
I thank you so much for taking time to read about our amazing Tara and thank you for any donation large or small......even if the way you can help is to share on your social media to get this out there.
She has a great support system with her family, friends, her second family, her church, school, and now from you! :) Thank you!
"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much. "
~Helen Keller
#cancersucks
#tarafaithfighthope
#teamtara
My name is Dawn and Tara has been in our lives for almost 7 years. She is our son Jake's high school sweetheart. (nevermind that I had to clue the kid in that this girl liked him) She has become a part of our family.
Tara is in her final semester of college getting ready to begin her student teaching in January to be able to graduate on schedule in May 2018 ( which she is determined to do). She will graduate with a degree in Biology and Education and plans to teach high school biology........did I mention she was smart? ;)
Tara Fun Fact
She is the eldest of six children. The youngest is five.
In November they were going to open houses looking for Jake's first house......their future home together. He wanted to have his own place before he asked her to marry him. Today instead of applying for a home mortgage loan, my son is talking about whether he should take out a loan to help pay for medical expenses and for harvesting eggs and freezing embryos because these are the choices they are having to make at 21 and 22. Today they are having to make decisions about cancer treatments and what if they can't have children. These are huge life decisions for any couple let alone such a young couple.
Finding Cancer
Tara had always had painful cramps during menstral cycles and she was always very regular, but in June she was having pain causing her to double over and she was bleeding when it shouldn't have been.
After a visit to her doctor with her concerns, they did an ultra sound and found a tumor on her left ovary. They drew blood and found the numbers they look at for cancer to be low and were not concerned yet. They were going to watch the tumor. By October the tumor had doubled in size and there was a new one on her right ovary. Surgery was scheduled.
On December 12th two tumors were removed. (She named them.....wanted to keep them in jars, but had to settle for pictures......science major! ) She named them Herbert and Helga. Her doctor told her he rarely sees these type of tumors in someone her age. They did appear to be cancer, but we would have to wait and see. Very long 8 days. Cancer. Merry Christmas!
We were all shocked and sad. She said she expected it. She just had a feeling. She knew. She also wasn't having anyone be sad. She was ready from the beginning to take it on. We are very thankful that it is only stage one. This could be so much worse and she has an awesome attitude about it all and they say that a positive attitude is important!
Jake has gone to all of her appointments, stayed with her family during the surgery and sat with her into the night while she was in the hospital. He helped take care of her when she came home. Together they have decided that they would like to try and freeze embryos for when they are ready to start a family.
This is where we need some help.
Everything has to move fast. (and it feels too slow all at the same time) The doctor would have removed her ovaries on December 12th had Tara been older or had she already had a child. Because of her age he wanted to wait to give her a chance to save some eggs/embryos before they took her ovaries. The cancer is still there and the ovaries must come out. Possible chemo will start after once they examine the ovaries. All of this needs to happen asap and they want money up front. Money these kids don't have, and unfortunately neither do their parents.
Tara has applied for scholarships from Live Strong and Baby Steps for help with the medications she needs to start ASAP in preparation for the removal of her eggs. ($5000) We hope to hear from them soon.
Oh but wait.....there's more.
They want $8000 the day of her appointment to remove the eggs and fertilize them. In addition, Tara will have out of pocket expenses from her surgeries and treatments that the insurance won't cover and we will use the money toward those costs as well.
I thank you so much for taking time to read about our amazing Tara and thank you for any donation large or small......even if the way you can help is to share on your social media to get this out there.
She has a great support system with her family, friends, her second family, her church, school, and now from you! :) Thank you!
"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much. "
~Helen Keller
#cancersucks
#tarafaithfighthope
#teamtara
Organizer
Dawn Renner Buckridge
Organizer
Beach City, OH
